How it works and building it

How it works

A single TypeScript and Canvas conversion engine (core/) is the only place the algorithm lives. It is built once and embedded in both packages, so the desktop app and the container never drift apart or disagree on what an image should look like. There is no server-side logic to speak of: every operation is load an image, adjust, export, and nothing is remembered between sessions.

The desktop app is a Wails wrapper around the same engine and interface the container serves.

Building it

npm install
npm run build              # builds core/ then ui/
npm run test --workspace core
npm run typecheck
npm run e2e --workspace ui  # Playwright; run `npx playwright install --with-deps chromium` first

Container image

docker build -t trickwork:dev -f container/Dockerfile .
docker run -p 3210:3210 trickwork:dev

Desktop app

node scripts/desktop.mjs

The result is desktop/build/bin/TrickWork (TrickWork.exe on Windows). It is a dev build, which never updates itself; only a build with --version x.y.z, as the release workflow makes, does. desktop/README.md names the Wails CLI the script needs and explains how to try an update against a local stand-in for GitHub.